


Vampires in Riverdale

by BuffyAndBetty



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: And there is nothing graphic about it, Believer Betty Cooper, But it's really not delved into, Comic-book-levels of violence, Everyone's a Little Bi, F/F, F/M, Jealous Betty Cooper, Jealous Jughead Jones, Mention of Past Sexual Assault, Multi, Open Relationships, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Skeptical Jughead Jones, Slow Burn, Vampires, rape/noncon elements, so it’s really more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:40:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25166350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuffyAndBetty/pseuds/BuffyAndBetty
Summary: It turns out Riverdale is on a Hellmouth. It all makes so much sense!Set in Riverdale during the summer before Betty's senior year of college. Betty and Jughead are together and solid, but meeting a BAMF like Buffy Summers opens them up to some new...opportunities.This is a slow, slow burn. It'll take a minute to get sexy, but it'll get there.Warning: Spoilers for the entire Buffy TV series and some mention of plotlines from the post-TV comics (though those will be largely ignored). Spoilers for Riverdale through season 4 — this was written before Riverdale season 5 aired, so it diverges from canon at that point.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Buffy Summers, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones/Buffy Summers, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz/Peaches N' Cream (Is that really her last name?), Jughead Jones/Sweet Pea
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. You’ve Already Had Your Dessert

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fan fiction! I hope you like it!

Betty Cooper was in over her head. She was filling in as a waitress for her friend Veronica who’d jetted off on an Alaskan cruise with Archie, but the menu was different and nothing was where it had been when she’d worked here last year. And the new boss was a real bitch. Buffy Summers handed her four menus, “Table 12 needs some service, Betty.”

“On my way, Buffy,” Betty gritted her teeth into a smile. She thought she was going to be cut after a night of asking the wrong follow ups to orders,

> _“How would you like your salmon cooked?”_
> 
> _"Well, that salmon is wrapped in bacon so there’s only one way it can be cooked—until the bacon’s done,” Buffy said as she strode past._
> 
> _“I’ll just have the panini.”_

bringing food to the wrong tables,

> _“Table 5 is by the window,” Buffy scolded._
> 
> _“It used to be by the door!”_
> 
> _“Well, now it’s by the window.”_

and even uncharacteristically dropping a glass of wine…on a customer.

> _“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Let me grab some more napkins.”_
> 
> _“At least it was white…” She could hear Buffy’s eye roll._

So when 10 o’clock rolled around and her last customers hintingly placed a credit card at the end of their table, Betty thought she’d do some side work and go home. She’d just started polishing the silverware when Buffy handed her those menus.

She approached Table 12, where two young men sat with a middle-aged woman and man, and began handing out menus. “Oh, we’re just going to have coffee and dessert,” the woman said, handing the menu back.

Coffee and dessert—every server’s nightmare. They’ll sit for an hour and a half and she’ll only get a $5 tip…if she’s lucky.

As Betty brought over the dessert menus, she did the math in her head ‘Four $8 desserts is $32 and four coffees is another $12…twenty percent of $44 is $9, which isn’t so bad.”

Two freshly brewed decaf coffees, one freshly brewed regular, one made-to-order herbal tea, and a goddamned shared chocolate mousse later and Betty picked up her $3 tip with a sigh. The hadn’t even left 20 percent. 

Everyone else had been cut by now. Even the kitchen was clean and the dishwashers went home. Betty just left the last of the cups in the dish bin and started taking off her apron. She poked her head into the manager’s office at the back of the kitchen. 

“Hey, I’m heading out.”

“Uh huh,” Buffy said, not looking up from her paperwork. She’d unbuttoned the top buttons of her crisp, white shirt and Betty noticed a small gold cross around her neck. Weird. Buffy didn’t seem like the religious type when she was telling Betty off for bringing the wrong side dish to Table 8.

“Okay, then,” Betty said as she walked away. “Bye.”

Outside, the air was chilly and humid. This summer in New England had been a wet one, with high temperatures, thunder storms, and an unrelenting wet-blanket feel to the air.

Betty walked up the alley from the service entrance, feeling around in her purse for her cell phone. Jughead would still be up and she wanted to vent about her night, even though she’d see him when she got home. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see that nice middle-aged woman she’d just served an herbal tea flanked by the two younger men. It was hard to see in the dim light of the alley, but it looked like there was something wrong with their faces. 

“Are you lost, little girl,” a voice crooned into her ear from behind. Betty jumped away, pulling her phone out like a weapon, as she wheeled around to see the decaf coffee man.

“What the hell,” she yelled up at him, sensing the rest of the family closing in behind her. From here she could get a close look at his face—wrinkly in a way it hadn’t been in the restaurant and with sharp-as-hell teeth that definitely hadn’t been there when he was spooning mousse past his lips.

She started to back up, but there was nowhere to go. As a hand grabbed her from behind, Betty shrieked like she was being chased by the black hood on prom night. She made a break for it, but they were on her and she was yanked back off her feet and into their growling—were they growling?—arms. Just as she felt teeth—teeth!—sink into her neck, the man in front of her turned to dust—dust!—and there stood her 5-foot-nothing bitch of a boss. 

“I believe you’ve already had your dessert,” she smirked as one of the young men released Betty to go after Buffy. If she weren’t so scared, she would be in awe of how that tiny woman grabbed the much larger man and threw him across the alley and into the dumpsters. She then flipped—flipped!—over Betty’s head taking both of Betty’s remaining attackers with her. The woman snarled—snarled!—as she rushed at Buffy, but Buffy easily blocked her with A KICK TO THE FACE?!?! 

“Get out of here,” Buffy yelled to Betty after the woman crashed into her. Betty started to run as she heard the fighting continue behind her. She heard Buffy yell, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” as she reached the end of the alley. Before the could round the corner, another pair of hands grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. She was carried, literally kicking and screaming, back down the alley toward the fight. Only, there was no fight. Betty stopped struggling to see Buffy, standing alone, holding a wooden stick—a wooden stick?—in her hand. “Let the girl go,” she demanded. “I wouldn’t want to get dust in her eyes.”

The man pushed Betty to the ground and ran at Buffy, who simply stepped to the side and stabbed him in the upper back as he charged past. Betty’s jaw dropped as he turned to dust before her eyes. “Holy shit,” she breathed. “What the fuck just happened? Who…what were they?”

“You don’t want to know,” Buffy said, offering Betty a hand up. “You should get home to your boyfriend.” Buffy handed Betty her phone and her purse, “I’ll find coverage for the rest of Veronica’s shifts. You don’t have to come back here.”

Betty nodded mutely as she stumbled back up the alley. She turned back to see Buffy dropping her stick into her leather jacket. When did she put that on? It looked…hot…. 

“Ummmm…” Betty began, “thank you doesn’t seem like enough. But thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Buffy replied, meeting Betty’s eyes.

Betty looked away. “Could you…walk me to my car?” Tears began spilling from her eyes. She had almost been killed…again! Why was this shit always happening to her? Psychopaths and cult-leaders were one thing, but now she had to worry about wrinkly-faced Baby Boomers who turned to dust! It was too much for a person to take, even if that person was Betty Fucking Cooper!

“Yeah,” Buffy smiled, “I can walk you to your car.”


	2. Vampires Aren’t Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead confronts Betty and Buffy after the attack.

Betty’s sniffling was the only noise during the five minute walk to her car. When they got there, she turned to Buffy and smiled brokenly. “Well, thanks again,” she huffed out.

“Are you okay to drive?” Buffy asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Betty said as she dropped her keys to the ground. She bent down the retrieve them, dumping the rest of the contents of her purse. Buffy crouched down to help Betty pick up loose change, tampons, her wallet, and her phone. Three missed calls from Jughead. She was late getting home.

“What kind of name is Jughead?” Buffy laughed, handing the phone to Betty.

“What kind of name is Buffy?” Betty laughed back.

“Touché,” Buffy smiled. “Seriously, though, are you sure you can drive home?”

Betty’s hands shook as she pressed the fob to unlock her car. “Honestly, no.”

Buffy took the keys from Betty’s hand and Betty felt a little flush in her chest. “I’ll get you home,” Buffy said. She opened the passenger door and Betty climbed in.

During the short ride to Betty’s apartment, between Betty’s directions, Buffy chatted idly. She told Betty about Southern California and how the summers there were hot, but dry. She told her about moving all around the world in the past few years after Sunnydale — how’d she put it? — “Fell off the map.” She told her that the first time she’d been bitten, it had really hurt, but you kind of get used to it.

At this, Betty turned to Buffy in horror. “You’ve been…bitten, too?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “Where I come from, it’s kind of hard to avoid.”

“Huh. The name ‘Sunnydale’ sounds so cheery.”

“So does ‘Riverdale,’ but I’ll bet some dark shit happens here, too.”

“Yeah,” Betty admitted. “It really does.”

Buffy parked the car in front of the building Betty indicated and turned off the ignition. “So, what are you going to tell your boyfriend about that bite mark?”

“The truth, I guess,” Betty replied, bringing her hand to her neck. It was sticky with blood, but it wasn’t actively bleeding.

“And what’s the truth?” Buffy asked.

Betty looked at Buffy and blinked back tears. “I have no idea.”

Betty opened the door to her apartment and crept in, as if Jughead wouldn’t be right there waiting for her. “Holy shit, Betty,” he cried as she walked in, grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. “You’re an hour late! I thought something happened to you!”

“I-I’m okay,” Betty stuttered. Jughead’s warmth always comforted her and she inhaled deeply into his chest. “This is Buffy,” she said, pulling away and gesturing toward the tiny blonde in the doorway.

“Oh my god!” Jughead yelled. “What happened to your neck?!?!” He reached out and pulled the blood-splattered collar down to reveal a large bite mark on the side of her throat. “Are you okay?!?!”

Betty tried to smile, “I’m okay, Juggie. It’s just a cut.”

“That’s a fucking bite mark!”

“Jughead, is it?” Buffy closed the door, walking past the couple and into the apartment. “I know you must be scared, but Betty is okay. A bit traumatized, but okay.”

“Who are you?” Jughead asked incredulously.

“I’m Buffy. I’m Veronica’s boss at the restaurant. Betty was working with me tonight.”

Jughead raised his eyebrow at Betty, remembering all the texts she sent about her bitch of a boss that evening. “And why are you here?” Jughead demanded.

“Betty was shaken up after the dog attack,” Buffy lied. “I brought her home.”

“Dog attack?” Jughead questioned. He looked at Betty’s neck, the curve of the teeth. He thought back to the nip marks the'd gotten from Hot Dog. “That doesn’t look like a dog bite.” He paused, looking Betty in the eyes. “What really happened? And why is she speaking for you?”

Betty inhaled. She couldn’t lie to Jughead. She promised after those stolen kisses with Archie came out the night of Senior Prom that she’d never lie to him again. He was so hurt and it took so long to regain his trust, so long for him to come back to her. She didn’t want to jeopardize that. She didn’t want to lose him.

“I think we should sit down,” Betty said.

“We have to go to the police!” Jughead yelled, jumping out of his seat. “We have to tell my dad!”

“Tell him what?” Betty asked. “That there’s a new gang of wrinkly faced…people…who fall into dust when they’re stabbed? No one will believe that!” She looked at Jughead as he began pacing the kitchen. “I mean, do you believe it? Do you believe…me?”

Jughead looked from Betty to Buffy and back again. “I believe you were attacked,” he said. “And maybe you were drugged. Maybe you were both drugged and the wrinkly face and the teeth and the dust, maybe that was all a hallucination.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Or maybe only you were drugged, Betty. Maybe she’s in on it.” He gestured to Buffy.

Buffy snorted. “Yeah, maybe I’m a drug kingpin who’s dealing out of the back of the restaurant and turning people into bumpy-faced psychopaths.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time drugs turned people violent in this town,” Jughead mumbled. He looked at Betty again. “Remember that bad batch of Fizzle Rocks?”

“Fizzle Rocks?” Buffy’s eyebrows went up. 

“Yeah, it was about 5 years ago when the Ghoulies—“ Betty began but Jughead cut her off.

“The important thing is we’ve seen people do all kinds of fucked up shit on drugs before. Just like we’ve seen supposedly normal, respectable people dealing them. This wouldn’t be anything new.”

Betty looked up at her boyfriend. She loved him, but he wasn’t ready to believe that something deeper was going on. Something she was starting to believe. It wasn’t drugs. It wasn’t Jingle Jangle or Fizzle Rocks. It was something…supernatural. The wooden stick, the fangs, the neck biting…they were...vampires. She’d been bitten by a _vampire._

She jumped out of her chair, “Holy shit, Buffy!” Her eyes were wide with shock. “Am I going to turn into a vampire?!?!”

Buffy’s eyebrows went up again, “No,” she said. “You got bit by one, but you were never close to death…and you didn’t drink any of her blood, so you’ll be fine.”

Jughead’s head swiveled from one woman to the other. He was too shocked to speak. ‘Vampires?’ he thought. ‘What has this woman done to Betty?’ He regained his composure, “Betty, vampires aren’t real.”

Betty’s eyes were still wide, “Juggie, I love you, but you don’t know what I saw.” She stifled a small sob. “You don’t know what I lived through.” And with that Betty broke down. Jughead crossed the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her, shushing into her pony tail. She was hurt and he had to help. It didn’t matter who…or what…hurt her. It only mattered that he was there for her when she needed him. And she needed him now.

Buffy stood up quietly and left the kitchen. Jughead heard the front door click behind her as he held a crying Betty in his arms.

The next morning found Buffy and her best friend Willow drinking coffee at Pop’s. “So, she told the boyfriend,” Willow said, shaking her head. “I’m sure that went over well.”

Buffy smiled into her mug, “Y’know, it could’ve gone worse.” Just then, the door dinged open and in walked a man in a sheriff’s uniform. “Or maybe it did go worse,” Buffy muttered as he walked directly to their booth.

“Buffy Summers?” The sheriff asked. “I’m Sheriff Jones, Jughead’s dad.”

Buffy smiled up at him, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he replied. “Can I sit?”

“I don’t see why not,” Buffy answered. She gave Willow the scram-nod and Willow responded with the no-way-head-shake, so Buffy slid down to let the officer sit beside her. “What can I do for you?”

“Jughead told me that last night Betty was attacked. That you helped her. I was hoping to get a statement from you.”

Buffy continued smiling innocently at Sheriff Jones. “Sure. I came out into the alley when I heard a noise, and there were a few…junkies…attacking Betty, probably to rob her. One of them bit her. I think they were startled when the door opened and they ran away.”

“They ran away, huh?” Sheriff Jones asked with a glint in his eye. “See, Jughead told me you stabbed them and they turned to dust.”

“Well, that doesn’t make much sense, does it?” Buffy smiled. “What does Betty say?”

“Betty is still sleeping. She had a rough night.”

“Well, as I said, officer—“

“Sheriff.”

Buffy corrected herself. “As I said, _Sheriff_ , they ran away. Must’ve been frightened off.”

“Hmmmm…” Sheriff Jones nodded. “I know I’d be scared of a tiny blonde girl walking into an alley.”

“I walk loudly,” Buffy said. “They must have thought I was a big, strong man…. Like you.”

Willow snorted into her coffee.

Sheriff Jones chuckled. “Well, we went over to the crime scene and didn’t find anything more than a few overturned trash cans. No blood. No bodies.” He stood, “But I better not hear about any more trouble coming from you or your restaurant. I got my eye on you.”

“And what a lovely eye it is,” she smiled her widest smile yet. “I’ll see you around, Sheriff.”

Once the door closed behind him, Willow turned to Buffy. “Great, now we have the law watching us.”

“It’s fine,” Buffy replied. “Once we find the Hellmouth and get it closed, we’ll be out of here. In a year no one will even remember us.”


	3. Where Psycopaths Reign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead are having some problems, Betty and Buffy grow closer, and Jughead has a run-in with a vampire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No smut yet, but it's coming...I mean...approaching...

“Are you kidding me, Juggie?” Betty asked incredulously. “You told your father?”

“I had to,” Jughead responded. “Someone hurt you. And that…Buffy…is hiding something. I know it.”

“She saved me,” Betty said. “She saved my life and you just sent your dad after her.”

“Betty, I know you want to trust her, but you’re in shock. You’re not making the best decisions right now.”

“Are you kidding me—“

“You wouldn’t go to the police! You wouldn’t let me take you to the hospital! You could have rabies for all we know. Or you could have been drugged. Drugged!” Jughead stopped. “They could have tested your blood and we would know—“

“I wasn’t drugged,” Betty said quietly. “I would know if I were drugged.”

“I know you think that—“

“Y’know what, Jughead?” Jughead flinched. She only ever called him “Jug” or “Juggie” these days. “I’m going to work.”

“You can’t be serious! You can’t go back there!”

“I can and I will. Now get out of the way, I need to shower.”

Betty wiped the steam from the mirror to look at the bite mark on her neck. ‘I guess I’ll be wearing a turtle neck under my uniform tonight,’ she thought as she gently spread antibacterial ointment onto the tender wound. She loosely taped a bandage onto her neck, slapped on some deodorant, and went into the bedroom to get dressed. 

Betty found a black turtleneck to wear under her white button down. The top of the bandage peeked out ever so slightly, but for the most part, Betty looked good to go. She threw her hair into a ponytail and put a bit of concealer on the dark circles under her eyes. She hadn’t really slept the night before, the dark seemed so much darker as Jughead tossed and turned beside her. But she’d slept for a few hours once the sky grew light.

She sighed thinking about Jughead. She knew he was right. She should’ve gone to the hospital to get her wound checked. But she also knew she was right. She hadn’t been drugged. She knew when she’d been drugged at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. And she’d been able to recognize that she’d been hypnotized at The Farm. So why couldn’t he trust that she knew what she felt now? What she saw? Why didn’t he trust her judgment? 

Because vampires aren’t real. He’d said it himself and before yesterday she would have agreed. If she hadn’t been in that alley—if Veronica had told her she’d been attacked by vampires—she wouldn’t have believed it either.

She wanted to cut Jughead some slack. But he’d told his dad. There would be a record of what happened to her and she would have to tell what she saw. They would look at her like she was crazy. And Buffy could get in trouble. 

Betty bit her bottom lip as she thought about Buffy. How was that girl so strong? If Betty discounted drugs—and she felt like she had to discount them for Buffy if she discounted them for herself—then how did Buffy take on _four vampires_ by herself?

She’d obviously had martial arts training—Betty saw her use that vampire’s body weight against him when she’d thrown him across the alley, and those kicks (those kicks!) were so high, not to mention that flip. Betty shivered just thinking about it. There was something incredibly sexy about a woman who could fight. Her chest and neck felt flushed and she was glad she had the turtleneck to cover it as Jughead walked in.

“I’m sorry, Betty,” Jughead said, kissing the back of her shoulder. “I’m sorry that I told my dad. And I’m sorry that I’m having trouble believing you. But I’m going to try. If you say they were vampires, then they were vampires.”

Betty smiled with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Juggie. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he smiled, gathering her into his arms from behind. “But don’t go to the restaurant tonight.”

Betty stiffened in his arms. “I have to, Juggie. I have to see Buffy. To talk to her. I have to understand what happened last night.”

Jughead sighed. “Fine,” he said. “But I’m driving you there and I’m picking you up.”

Betty rolled her eyes and pulled away, turning to face him, “I can take care of myself.”

“I know that. It’s for me. I’ll be too worried if you don’t let me give you a ride.”

Betty looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said. “But we’ve gotta go.”

“Lead the way, Cooper,” Jughead responded, playfully.

“Follow me, Jones,” Betty smiled.

Buffy was surprised to see Betty in the doorway of her office. “I told you you didn’t have to come in,” she said.

“I know,” Betty responded. “But I made a commitment to cover Veronica’s shifts, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Betty,” Buffy began standing and walking around her desk. “It’s a Sunday night. We don’t have many reservations. You can go—”

“Please don’t send me home,” Betty interrupted. “I can’t be there with Jughead looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. And his dad calling again and again to set up an interview.” Betty looked down at Buffy before continuing. “I need to be with someone who understands.”

Buffy nodded. “Well, grab an apron and start double-checking table settings, then.”

As Buffy had expected, the shift was slow. By 8 o’clock she was ready to send most of the servers home. “Do you want to stay or go?” she asked Betty. “We close at 10 on Sundays, but I don’t think anyone else will be coming in. It’ll be side work and deep cleaning from here on out.”

“I’ll stay,” Betty answered quickly. So Buffy sent the other servers home and they started polishing glasses side-by-side.

“I haven’t always been good at talking, y’know, about emotions and stuff,” Buffy glanced at Betty from the corner of her eye. “But if you want to talk about last night, I’ll listen.”

Betty put down the glass and started playing with the rag. “Were those really vampires?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “They were really vampires.”

“And,” Betty paused. “What are you? A vampire hunter?”

“I’m what they call a slayer—one girl in all the world, blah, blah, blah—“

“One girl?” Betty asked.

“Well, there are more now. A whole network of us. We were actually pretty public for a while, but that ended up being really stupid so we’re back in the shadows.”

“Why are you in Riverdale?” Betty asked. 

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Buffy replied.

“Try me,” Betty said, turning to her boss.

Buffy sighed. “There are portals called Hellmouths that release negative energy. They bring monsters around and make people do really crazy, really evil things. We think there’s one in Riverdale, but we haven’t been able to find it yet.”

Betty chuckled. “That would make so much sense.” Buffy raised an eyebrow and Betty went on. “Over the past, I don’t know, 10 years or so Riverdale has fallen apart. It started with a father murdering his son, but also there was this game that seemed to possess people, evil nuns, an organ-stealing cult, and…my dad…” Betty took a deep breath. “He called himself the Black Hood and he killed a bunch of people. And he…he tortured me.” Buffy gaped at her. “Mentally, not physically…but still. It was pretty rough.”

Buffy sighed. “My dad was a monster, too. He left us and he didn’t even show up when my mom died. I had to take care of my little sister alone and I was only…what…20? I was not equipped for it. He didn’t _torture_ me, but his neglect destroyed me and Dawn a little bit everyday.” She paused and put a hand on Betty’s arm. “I’m so sorry you went through all of that.”

Betty released a sad chuckle. “I thought I was cursed, but it turns out the whole town is cursed. I feel so much better…” A tear slipped down her cheek. 

“Hey,” Buffy reached up, wiping her tear and then gently cupping her face, looking Betty in the eyes. “Sometimes what seems like a curse is a gift. It makes us stronger.” She had tears in her own eyes as she stroked Betty’s cheek with her thumb. “And it sounds like you, Betty Cooper, might be the strongest person in this town.”

“Get your hands off my girlfriend,” they heard from across the room. Betty looked up and Buffy dropped her hands, turning around to see Jughead storming across the restaurant to the servers’ station. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” 

Buffy looked at Jughead, ready to throw out a sarcastic quip, but what she saw under that crown-shaped beanie gave her pause. His eyes glistened with intensity and intellect and he was at once beautiful and vulnerable and strong. She could see why Betty loved him and she could see how much _he_ loved Betty, so she decided to let his tone slide. She put her hands up as if in surrender, “Betty’s struggling right now. I was just offering her some comfort.”

“I know what comfort looks like,” Jughead interjected. “This was something else. This was more.”

Betty shook herself out of her stupor. “Juggie, it was nothing,” she said. “I was just telling Buffy about my dad. You know it’s hard for me to talk about him.”

“I _do_ know that. I _do_ know that and I don’t know why you’d be talking to _her_ about him.”

“Hey—“ Buffy said, offended. “I’m a perfectly good person to talk to about—“

Betty cut her off. “Juggie, Buffy understands. It sounds like she’s been through almost as much as we have.”

“Probably more,” Buffy said under her breath.

Jughead looked from Betty to Buffy. Buffy averted her eyes and he registered for the first time just how pretty she was. And commanding. Even looking down at the floor, even being so small, she radiated power. Like at any second she could take control of the room and there’d be nothing he could do about it.

“It’s time to go,” Jughead said, still looking at Buffy. “Get your stuff.”

If Betty didn’t like that Jughead wasn’t looking at her, she liked the way he was looking at Buffy even less—like she was competition. She quickly weighed her options: Tell him he was being an asshole and stay. Tell him he was being an asshole, get her stuff, and go with him. Go with him and then tell him he was being an asshole once they got to the car. She decided on option three and walked to the back to get her bag.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Buffy,” Betty said pointedly as she walked past. Jughead bristled, but didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow, Betty,” Buffy responded.

The car was parked right out front, but before they reached it, Jughead snapped at Betty. “What was going on in there? What were you doing with her?”

Betty stopped and grabbed his arm before he could walk around to the driver’s side. “We were just talking. Why are you so threatened by her?”

Jughead looked at Betty and swallowed. “I saw the way you were looking at her. It’s the way you used to look at Archie, like he was the most special person in the room.”

Betty felt like the air had been knocked from her lungs. “I thought you’d forgiven me for what happened with Archie,” she said quietly.

“Yeah, I thought so, too,” Jughead spat out. He moved towards the car when he spotted some movement in the alley next to the restaurant. He checked for the pocket knife that he was still in the habit of carrying. “Wait here, Betty,” he whispered as he headed toward the alley.

“What are you doing?” Betty whispered back.

“I saw something,” he said. “Maybe it was those freaks that assaulted you last night.”

Betty’s eyes widened. “They’re gone, Jug.”

“Well, maybe they came back.”

“Jughead,” Betty said, tightly grabbing his arm. “Do not go back there. If anyone’s there, Buffy can handle it.”

“Yeah…of course she can. Buffy can handle anything.” Jughead wrenched his arm from her grasp and continued toward the alley. He saw a skinny, mullety man in a denim shirt with the sleeves cut off—he looked straight out of an 80s music video—fiddling with the locked door to the restaurant. 

“Hey,” Jughead yelled, heading toward him. “What are you doing with that lock?”

The man turned and Jughead’s brain broke—his forehead was ridged and wrinkled, just as Betty said. And his teeth! It was like they were filed into sharp points and they jutted out a little too far. The guy growled and Jughead wheeled back in fear, tripping over his feet and landing on his ass.

“Betty,” he screamed as he tried to slide back toward the alley’s entrance. “Betty, get out of here! Run!” 

The growling man was on him so fast it seemed inhuman. He lifted Jughead off his feet like a ragdoll and threw him up against the brick wall of the alley. Jughead ineffectually clawed at the guy’s shirt before remembering to grab his switchblade. He flicked it open stabbed out, right into the side of the guy’s neck. Jughead saw the man look down at the knife protruding from his neck, look back at Jughead, and then laugh. He opened his mouth and Jughead closed his eyes and screamed as the man pushed his face toward Jughead’s throat. Before he bit down, Jughead felt himself drop to the ground as the man exploded into dust. 

Jughead looked up, coughing, and saw Buffy standing in a cloud of dust with Betty behind her. Betty rushed forward, tears streaming down her cheeks, “Oh my god, Juggie, are you okay?!?”

He felt a sob escape his chest as Betty’s arms went around him. Her hair smelled so good, like normal, like they were in their normal life where psychopaths reigned but people didn’t turn into dust. “What the fuck is going on?” he practically shouted at Buffy. “What was that?!?”

Buffy took a deep breath. “Come with me, guys. I’ll tell you everything.”


	4. The Scooby Shack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead visit the Scooby Shack to try to understand what's going on,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, next chapter, there will be smut. I promise.

Back at the Scooby Shack — what Buffy and Willow called the small house they rented on the outskirts of town — Willow set down mugs of hot tea before their guests.

“That oughtta warm up those bones,” she said sweetly as she sat down next to Buffy at the kitchen table, across from Betty and Jughead.

“Thanks,” Betty said quietly as Jughead nodded.

“So,” Willow continued, turning to Buffy. “We’re letting in the locals now? Because we usually don’t let in locals on account of…well…they might die.”

Buffy sighed. “We’ll call it a special dispensation. An honorary membership into the old Scooby Gang.”

Willow began to laugh but then caught Jughead’s piercing green stare and she cleared her throat instead.

“Can someone please tell us what the fuck is going on here?” he asked.

Buffy turned to him. “Willow and I are part of a secret organization that investigates supernatural occurrences and…well…puts a stop to them. I’m a vampire slayer and Willow here is a witch…but, like, a good witch. Well, she is now anyway…

“For the past year, we’ve been tracking a cult of vampires that’s trying to open the Hellmouth…well, _a_ Hellmouth—any Hellmouth will do. We chased them out of Cleveland and they’ve left a string of bodies leading to Riverdale. Willow and I have been here for about 3 months, trying to figure out where they’re holed up and where Riverdale’s Hellmouth is.”

“Actually, you two could be really helpful,” Willow’s mood brightened. “Can you tell us if there have been any weird occurrences over the past few years?” She turned to Buffy, “We can plot them on a map and see if there’s a mystical center of badness.”

Betty laughed, “That could take a while. We’ve had a lot of—” 

Jughead interrupted, “I’m sorry, but this all sounds insane. You know that, right? Witches? Vampires? Vampire slayers? What the fuck is a ‘vampire slayer’ anyway?”

Betty looked at Jughead, “And if we were to tell them about Gryphons and Gargoyles, how the game took over the town and kids were literally killing themselves over it, they’d say the same to us.” She smiled at Buffy, whose blush caused Willow’s eyebrows to shoot up to her hairline. Butty turned back to Jughead. “It’s not outside the realm of possibility that monsters are real. It actually makes a lot of sense if you think about all of the terrible things that have happened to us.” Betty laughed again, “I mean, it would make so much sense if Chic was a vampire! Or Penelope and Clifford Blossom! Even Hiram Lodge, for god’s sake! Can’t you just picture him sleeping in a coffin!”

Jughead shook his head. “It’s a lot easier to believe in demons and vampires than it is to believe that people are capable of evil. That the Blossoms, Chic, Hiram Lodge, or _your dad_ for that matter were inhuman—without conscience.” Betty’s face turned red and she pursed her lips as he continued, “But we know that’s not true. We know that, sometimes, people really are just evil.”

Concern flashed across Buffy’s face as Betty’s eyes teared up. “Yeah, sure, my dad was a bad man who did horrible things.” Willow looked at Buffy, wide-eyed, and Buffy shook her head, silently shushing her. “And maybe he was just that—a bad man, an _evil_ man—but weird things have happened in this town. Weird things have happened all around us. And maybe, just maybe, it’s not so easily explained.”

Jughead scoffed, but before he could speak again Buffy interrupted, putting a hand on Jughead’s shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. “Hey, I know that this all seems crazy and you probably think that Willow and I are nuts.” Jughead remained silent. “But whether or not you believe us, we still want to hear your stories.”

Betty looked at Jughead. “You could give them your novel.” She turned to Willow and Buffy, “Jughead’s been writing this really amazing novel that chronicles the town.”

“Aren’t novels fictional?” Willow asked. 

Betty ignored her and continued, “It includes every weird thing we’ve seen or even heard about. Maybe that would help.”

Jughead groaned. “I don’t want to give them my nov—,“ he paused, glancing at Willow. “Book.” 

“Why not? You’re always complaining that no one’s going to read it. Here’s a prime opportunity!”

Jughead chewed on the inside of his lip. He knew better than to argue with Betty Cooper once she’d set her mind to something. “Fine. I’ll email you my book. But it’s not finished yet.”

“We won’t judge,” said Buffy.

“Hell, Buffy won’t even read it!” Willow winked.

“I will too!” Buffy cried, kicking Willow under the table. “I mean, if he wants me to…”

“The day you do extra research is the day Xander re-grows his eyeball.”

Betty and Jughead exchanged glances. What in the hell had they gotten themselves into?

After Jughead and Betty left, Willow turned to Buffy. “You’ve got it bad, sister.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can see the way you look at them—both of them!” Willow poured them each a glass of wine. “I mean, offering to read Jughead’s book? You’re totally into them!”

Buffy grabbed her wine. “I am not,” she protested. “They’re, like, 15 years younger than us!”

Willow nodded, taking a sip. “I never said they weren’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have a crush on that couple. And I don’t blame you, they’re hot. I’d like to get in with Betty, myself.”

Buffy shook her head, “You’re insane! I’m not into them; they’re not into me. End of story.”

Willow gave Buffy a knowing look. “Okay, on to business. Just like in Cleveland, the vamps are blending in well. Going to your restaurant for dessert—that’s some straight up nonsense! Do you think they were doing recon?”

“Must’ve been,” Buffy responded. “But then they couldn’t,” she paused, “resist Betty, I guess. Blew their covers.”

Willow smirked at Buffy. “Some would certainly call her irresistible,” she teased, getting a dirty look in response. “Not you, of course, because you’re definitely not into her…”

Buffy playfully threw a pen at her. “I do _not_ have thing for them,” she laughed. “And even if I did, it wouldn’t be…appropriate.”

“And when have your relationships ever been appropriate?” Willow laughed. “At least they aren’t old enough to remember the Industrial Revolution!”

“Oh, you’re one to talk. Seen any sexy mermaids lately?”

“Okay, okay, truce,” Willow said, holding up her hands. She sipped her wine. “But you’re totally into them,” she added under her breath.

Betty spent the silent drive home wondering what Jughead was thinking. He waited until they closed their apartment door behind them to speak. Putting his arms around Betty, he spoke into her hair, “This can’t be real, can it? I mean, you know it’s not real.”

Betty pulled back. “Then what did we see? How did a physical being, one who was solid enough to hold you up against a wall, turn to dust?”

“I don’t know—shared delusion?”

Betty sighed. “Juggie, I know none of this makes sense and I know you _need_ things to make sense.” She cupped his cheeks and planted a soft kiss on his lips, followed by another and another. He had tears in his eyes when she said, “We’ll keep our eyes—and minds—open. Deal?”

Jughead cleared his throat. “Deal,” he said. “Let’s go to bed.”


	5. Everyone’s a Little Bi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead get intimate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here...what everyone's been waiting for...smut!

When Jughead woke up the next morning, his body was sore. He looked in the bathroom mirror to find bruises running down his back and his head was tender from smacking it against the brick wall. Could a slight concussion explain what he thought he saw? Maybe that was it…maybe his brains got scrambled and he just…missed the guy running away…from a 5’4” blonde woman with a wooden stick.

Betty knocked on the door, “Juggie?” 

“Yeah,” his voice was hoarse. “Just a minute, Betts.” He hung up his towel and walked out into the bedroom in just his pajama pants. As he went to his dresser to get a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Betty noticed the black and blue marks trailing his spine.

“Oh, Jug,” she said, quietly approaching him from behind. She traced his bruises lightly with her fingertips. “Does it hurt?”

“Does that bite on your neck?” he snapped and Betty pulled her hand away. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just—a lot.”

“I know,” said Betty, stepping closer to him. She wrapped her hands around his waist and began kissing the back of his shoulder, up to his neck. He turned to her, running his fingers through her hair and pulling her up for a kiss.

After a moment, she broke away. “Even though the world is upside down right now—even though nothing seems to make sense—I still love you.”

“I love you too, Betty Cooper.” He pulled her in for another kiss, lightly sucking at her bottom lip. His hands roamed her soft curves, pulling up at her t-shirt and then back down to cup her firm ass. He moved his kisses down her jaw to her neck, careful to avoid the bandaged side, and her soft moan elicited a moan from him. He stepped back, raising an eyebrow at Betty who smiled and began to disrobe. When she was naked before him, Jughead couldn’t help but bite his lip. He couldn’t believe this beautiful, strong, sexy woman was his.

Betty cleared her throat. “Jug?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re wearing way too many clothes.” 

Jughead laughed, pulling his pajama pants to the floor and kicking them away. He was already semi-hard as he stepped toward Betty again, resuming his kisses on her neck. He trailed down to her collarbone, then her left breast. He spent a few minutes licking and nibbling at her nipple, hearing her breath hitch as he rolled her other nipple between his fingers. He knelt to trail kisses down her belly, sucking on the points of her hips and the soft skin between them. He loved her tiny, pudgy stomach and told her so as often as possible. Betty gasped as he brought his fingers up between her legs. Her wetness excited him and he felt his half-hard cock grow to its full length.

Betty opened her legs a bit as she felt Jughead’s fingers glide along her soaking wet slit. He always knew just how to turn her on. He teased her entrance with his fingers as his lips continued to kiss circles around her belly. When he finally inserted a finger up to the knuckle, Betty’s eyes rolled back into her head and she grabbed Jughead’s dark shock of hair, spreading her legs to offer easier access. The first finger was quickly joined by a second as he began to fuck in and out of her slick, tight hold. Betty felt so full already, her face and chest flushed, and she began pulling at her tits to heighten her pleasure.

Jughead stood, pulling his fingers from Betty and kissing her hard on the mouth. He walked her back toward the bed, pushing her down onto her back. She scrambled back and smiled as he crawled up until his hips were between her legs. She pulled him in for a kiss or fifty, her hands roaming his back and grabbing at his butt cheeks. He pulled away to face her while rolling on a condom. “You ready?” he asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“Fuck yes,” Betty laughed. She flung her head back as he pressed himself inside her, stretching her out around his cock. Rolling her eyes back and moaning his name, Betty hooked her legs around Jughead’s waist, pulling him further into her. He began slowly thrusting into her and she used the leverage of her legs around him to meet each thrust. They found a steady rhythm, Betty pulling him closer and closer as if such a thing were possible, as if they weren’t already as close as two humans could get.

Jughead noticed the tenderness in his back as Betty dug her nails into his forgotten bruises. The slight pain only seemed to heighten his arousal and when Betty pulled at his hair he almost came. He stopped moving and kissed his way down Betty’s body, pulling out. He just needed a second without sensation and Betty took this opportunity to roll over. 

She always loved being fucked from behind. The angle of Jughead’s cock always finding that tender spot inside her. She got onto her hands and knees and Jughead entered her, holding onto her hips for leverage. Now they were fucking a little harder, a little faster—him thrusting forward as she pushed back. 

Jughead loved the way Betty’s tits rocked back and forth in this position and he reached down with one hand to grab at them as the other hand kept her hip in his grasp.

Betty felt Jughead’s fingers squeezing her nipple and she turned back to see his face, eyes closed, lower lip between his teeth. The sight of him made her groan.

Betty’s moan pulled one from Jughead’s lips and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer. He released her nipple and brought his fingers down to Betty’s clit instead, rubbing wet circles around her hard nub.

“Fuck,” Betty cried. “Yes, right there!”

“Come for me, baby,” Jughead said, continuing his ministrations.

“Oh fuck, yes!” Betty’s eyes closed as she felt pleasure radiating from her clit and her cunt, warming her whole body. “I’m going to cum! I’m cumming!”

Jughead felt Betty’s orgasm tighten around his cock and it was the last thing he needed to release. He waited until he stopped throbbing to pull out.

“Holy shit, Betty,” he said collapsing down next to her already prone body.

“Holy shit, Juggy,” Betty responded, slotting herself into his big spoon. She closed her eyes, intensely satisfied, as she felt tiny kisses tickle her back.

“I’ve got to get ready for work,” Betty said, pulling off the covers and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “And you’ve got to get some writing done.” She paused. “Did you send your book over to them?”

Jughead huffed. “Not yet.” Betty looked at him sharply. “But I will, I will.” He raised his hands in surrender.

Jughead watched Betty walk over to her dresser and start opening and closing drawers, grabbing what she’d need for her shift. “Hey,” he began. “Are you…attracted to her?” Betty turned to him, confused. “To Buffy, I mean.”

Betty flashed back to Buffy standing strong in her leather jacket, ready to pounce. She’d never seen anything so powerful before. She wasn’t sure she should tell Jughead what she felt. She was afraid to hurt him or to lose his trust. I mean, it was normal to be attracted to other people…she was only human, but—

“You’re silence speaks volumes, Betty.” Jughead broke into her thoughts, frowning. He looked down and fidgeted with the rumpled bedsheets.

“I don’t know if attraction is quite the right word,” Betty finally responded. Jughead looked up, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, it’s not quite the _wrong_ word, either.” Betty sighed as Jughead’s mouth set sternly. “She’s got something about her,” she continued. “She strong. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met…and we know Cheryl!”

Jughead laughed. “Yeah, Cheryl with that bow is a sight to behold.”

“Honestly,” Betty said, covering her eyes with her hand. “If I weren’t related to her…”

Jughead stopped laughing. “Wait! Are you…gay?” he asked.

“No!” Betty exclaimed, not even having to think about it. “But I might be a little…bi…” Jughead was quiet and Betty crossed the room to sit beside him on the bed. She was about to reassure him when he spoke. 

“I think everyone’s a little bi,” he finally said. Now it was Betty’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “I should have told you this,” Jughead continued. “But when we were broken up, the summer after senior year, me and Sweetpea…” He trailed off.

“Sweetpea?” Betty processed. “He’s so…tall,” she finally said, mentally kicking herself for her response. “Did you guys…?”

“Yeah,” Jughead said. “We dated for a month or so. It was before you and I got back together—when we weren’t even talking.” He looked at Betty, “I really liked him. But I _loved_ you.” Betty nodded. “So I ended it. It wasn’t fair to him.”

Betty remained silent, waiting for Jughead to continue. She wanted to ask more about Sweetpea, but she had to get to work and this was going to be a very long conversation.

“So I get it,” he said. “I get your attraction to Buffy. Hell, I get your attraction to power. It’s one of the reasons I’m so attracted to you…why I was so attracted to Sweetpea. And Toni.” Betty raised an eyebrow. “Don’t pretend you didn’t know… You’re all strong, confident, and capable. And it doesn’t hurt that you’re all really fucking hot.” He felt a twitch between his legs and pulled Betty closer. “How much time before you have to leave?” he growled into her ear.

“Not enough,” she laughed. “You’ll have to call Sweetpea to come take care of you,” she winked, mentally congratulating her for being so cool.

“Betty Cooper, I don’t deserve you,” Jughead smiled earnestly as she returned to her dresser. “But I’m so lucky to have you.” 

She stopped and smiled her warmest Betty Cooper smile. “Right back atcha, Juggie.”


	6. We Can Handle Anything That Comes Our Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy goes to Betty and Jughead's apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexy times to come. :)

That night at work, Buffy was all business. Betty had tried to get her attention on a couple of occasions, but Buffy just shooed her off, saying she was busy with bookkeeping. When she cut Betty early, before any of the other servers, Betty felt like she’d been punched.

She texted Jughead, “Hey, Buffy cut me early. Want to come have a drink at the bar?”

It took a while before Jughead responded. “Sure,” was all it said.

A half hour later, Jughead showed up looking good. He was in his usual black skinny jeans, but he’d put on his suspenders and a crisp button down, something Betty knew he only did for special occasions. His beanie was also absent and his thick, dark hair fell artfully into his eyes.

“Wow,” said Betty. “You look great! What’s the occasion?”

“Do I have to have a reason to look good for my girl,” he said, planting a kiss on her lips and looking around the restaurant. When he didn’t see Buffy, he sat on a stool next to Betty and ordered a scotch on the rocks. 

“Well, aren’t you Mr. Fancy,” Betty teased, sipping her Cape Codder.

“That’s me,” he said. “I’m very sophisticated.” 

Betty couldn’t resist planting a few kisses on his lips. “I love you,” she said. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Jughead answered. “I know.”

For the next two hours they forgot all about vampires—and vampire slayers, for that matter—and sat, flirting at the bar. They talked about Jughead’s book (yes, he’d sent it to Willow) and Betty’s most difficult table of the night (some college kids who drank too much and tipped too little). They talked about what it would be like when Betty went back to Yale that fall for her senior year—their summer of love coming to an end. They talked about Iowa City and the miles and miles of cornfields that surrounded the college town. Jughead had graduated early, so he was free to stay in Riverdale, or maybe he would move down to New Haven with Betty. They talked a little about Sweetpea and whether or not Jughead missed him…missed men in general (he did…a little). They talked about that time Betty had kissed Veronica and what that felt like and about the crush she’d had on (but didn’t act on) one of her women’s studies professors. 

Finally, the bartender let them know it was time to settle up; the restaurant was closing. As Jughead grabbed Betty’s hand to lead her to the door, he noticed the way she covertly looked around. “Are you looking for Buffy?” he asked.

“That obvious?” she responded.

“Kind of.” Betty moved toward the door. He stopped her with a hand on her low back and whispered in her ear, “Do you want to go find her? Ask her if she wants to come to our place for a drink?” 

Betty was startled. “Really? I mean…aren’t you…threatened?”

Jughead smiled. “I like strong women, too. Remember?” Betty eyed Jughead warily. Was this a test? Jughead continued, “I mean, I’m sure nothing would happen. It’s just a drink. But if something _did_ happen, I might be okay with it.”

“Oh my god,” Betty gaped. “You didn’t dress up for me…you dressed up for her!” She started laughing as Jughead shushed her. She pondered. She and Jughead had talked about threesomes before, but only once after watching _Vicky Cristina Barcelona_ a few years ago. They’d both been interested, but not enough to ever bring it up again. “Okay,” she finally said. “Let’s do it. Let’s ask her over for a drink.”

Buffy was in her office when she heard a small knock on the door. “Hey,” Betty said when Buffy looked up. “Jughead and I were wondering if you wanted to come over for a drink when you’ve finished up.”

Buffy looked confused. Why were Jughead and Betty asking her over for a drink? Her heart did a few somersaults and she took a deep breath to settle it down. They probably just wanted to learn more about vampires. “Sure,” she said. “I can be over in an hour.”

Betty smiled. “Great!” she said a little too loudly. She seemed a little nervous—giddy, even. Buffy figured she was excited to hear more about the supernatural. That must be it—what else could it be?

She texted Willow that she’d be home late.

An hour later, Buffy was parking the car in front of Betty and Jughead’s apartment building. She fixed her hair in the mirror, did a quick stink-check of the armpits (passable), and then stepped out of the car. She looked around for signs of danger and, seeing none, headed up to the apartment.

Jughead answered the door a little too quickly after she knocked, as if he’d been waiting for her. “Hey,” he smiled. “Can I take your jacket?”

Buffy took off her leather coat and handed it to him. She handed Betty, who’d appeared behind him, a bottle of wine she’d grabbed from the restaurant. “You guys are old enough to drink, right?” she said, cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah,” Betty responded. “We’re both 21…” She took the wine and walked into the kitchen. “Have a seat in the living room,” she called out behind her. Jughead gestured to the living room and left to hang up her coat. “I’ll be right in with the wine.” She paused. “Unless you’d rather have a beer…or a cocktail. We could make cosmos…”

“Wine is fine,” Buffy replied, crossing the living room and finding a seat on the couch. Jughead came in, beer in hand, and sat on the other end of the couch. Betty came in with two glasses of wine, handed one to Buffy and then sat on the arm of the couch next to Jughead. Jughead took the hint and slid over, making room for Betty to squeeze in next to him. Buffy looked around at the other furniture in the room: a loveseat and two fancy-looking arm chairs. ‘Huh,’ she thought.

“So, Buffy,” Jughead began. “Betty said you moved here from sunny California.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “Very sunny. A Sunnydale, actually.” Jughead laughed a little too hard for caliber of joke. What was going on?

“I’ve never been to California, but I’d love to go sometime. Is your town nice? Worth a stop?”

Buffy bit the corner of her lip. “Actually,” she started. “Sunnydale is…gone…”

“Gone?” Betty jumped in, suddenly remembering the “off the map” comment from their car ride. “What does ‘gone' mean?”

“Just that,” Buffy said, matter of factly. “It was there and then it was…gone. Sucked into the earth. It’s a crater now.”

Betty and Jughead looked at each other in horror. He wondered if she was also having second thoughts about this whole operation.

“Was anyone…hurt?” Betty asked.

“Yeah,” Buffy said sadly. “I lost some good people that day.” She stopped, realizing the mood had shifted, and shook it off. “I mean, most people had already evacuated. The Hellmouth was really acting up by then and it got too dangerous to hang around.” She chuckled. “Even my friend Clem took off before the…crater…happened.”

“Hellmouth?” Jughead repeated. “That’s the thing you said is here somewhere?”

“Yeah,” Buffy responded. “And that’s why we have to find it and close it. So what happened in Sunnydale doesn’t happen in Riverdale.”

“Holy shit,” Jughead and Betty said in unison. They took each other’s hand and squeezed.

“I know you want to know more,” Buffy said, turning to face them. “I know that’s why you brought me here.” Betty and Jughead glanced at each other. “But it’s not safe.”

“It’s been years since I felt safe,” Betty whispered. Jughead put a hand on her knee and squeezed. She looked at the woman at the other end of the couch. “Buffy, you don’t have to tell us anything. That’s not why we brought you here.” She glanced at Jughead again. “But you also don’t have to protect us. We’re strong.” She squeezed his hand. “We’ve been through a lot and we can handle anything that comes our way.”

Jughead looked at Betty in awe. He touched her cheek, leaned in, and planted a small, sweet kiss on her lips. Buffy didn’t know if she should feel uncomfortable with that act of intimacy, but she wasn’t. She thought it was really beautiful. She missed being looked at the way Jughead looked at Betty—like she was the most…no…the _only_ important thing in the world. 

Buffy’s experiences with sex weren’t always the _best_. When she lost her virginity to the person…well…vampire she thought was her soul mate, he lost his soul and tried to murder her and her friends. And then there was Riley. Their sex was great and they had a lot of it, but he never quite scratched the right itch. With Spike she felt like she was the only thing that mattered, but she had all the power and she abused him with it. It was too one-sided and it ultimately didn’t feel good or healthy. There had been other lovers over the years, but no one that made her feel the way she imagined Betty and Jughead felt.

‘I want in,’ she thought. Then she caught herself. ’I’m jealous,’ she reasoned. ‘I want what they have.’ 

She brought herself out of her reverie to find two intense pairs of eyes staring at her. She felt her entire body flush with heat. She cleared her throat. “I should probably get going,” she said, placing her almost untouched glass of wine on the coffee table. 

“Do you have to?” Buffy could have sworn Betty’s eyes were glistening with desire. But they couldn’t be, right?

“Yeah,” Jughead gazed up at her, an eager look on his face. “We really want you to stay.”

Buffy watched Jughead’s hand slide along the couch toward her. Holy shit, what was happening? Buffy felt flushed from head to toe and she looked from one gorgeous pair of eyes to the next. They looked back at her like they were looking into her soul. Like they really _saw_ her. And then…she decided. She reached her hand out to meet Jughead’s, letting their fingers touch, feeling a spark shoot through her entire body—her _entire_ body. This was happening. And she was into it.


	7. This. Was. Happening.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What we've all been waiting for!

Buffy watched Jughead’s hand slide along the couch toward her. Holy shit, what was happening? Buffy felt flushed from head to toe and she looked from one gorgeous pair of eyes to the next. They looked back at her like they were looking into her soul. Like they really _saw_ her. And then…she decided. She reached her hand out to meet Jughead’s, letting their fingers touch, feeling a spark shoot through her entire body—her _entire_ body. This was happening. And she was into it.

Jughead’s fingers curled around Buffy’s and he gently pulled her toward them. Buffy slid over on the couch until her knee was pressed against his. Betty reached past Jughead’s shoulder to push a fallen strand of hair behind Buffy’s ear. Buffy bit her bottom lip, unsure of what to do or say.

“I’ve never done this before,” Buffy finally said. “Assuming _this_ is what I think it is.”

Betty smiled, shyly. “I think it is if you want it to be.”

Jughead nodded, “No pressure.”

Buffy looked from Betty to Jughead. She looked at their flawless skin, their sparkling eyes, and their open, hopeful expressions. “How would we even start?” she asked, wondering if she looked equally open and hopeful.

Betty laughed. “We’ve never done this before either,” she said. “We’ll have to figure it out together.”

Buffy nodded her head. Even though she was the oldest person in the room and presumably had the most experience, she felt nervous. She stood up, maybe a little too fast judging by Betty and Jughead’s reactions. ‘They’re afraid I’m going to leave,’ she thought. She stepped past Jughead, still sitting on the couch, and reached for Betty’s face, gently pulling her up off the couch and into a kiss.

She’d wanted to kiss Betty since Veronica introduced them just over a week ago. (A week ago? It seemed like months!) Betty: beautiful, powerful, smart, funny Betty. She wanted to build an altar and worship the tall, strikingly gorgeous blonde. And now she finally got to kiss her.

Betty’s lips were soft and tasted faintly of mint chapstick. Buffy pulled away, bit her lower lip lightly, and turned to Jughead. The tall, beautiful man was standing now, watching with rapt focus. His breathing was shallow as Buffy pulled his head down to her to find he also tasted, faintly, of mint chapstick. As she melted into the kiss, she felt Jughead pull her body closer until she was standing on her tiptoes, enjoying the slightly off-balance feeling.

Buffy felt Betty approach her from behind, bringing her hands around Buffy and slowly unbuttoning her shirt. “Is this okay?” she asked into Buffy’s ear. Buffy managed a groan of assent and broke the kiss, leaning back against Betty’s body and letting her shirt drop to the floor. Betty ran her hands down Buffy’s arms and up her sides, leaving a trail of goosebumps along Buffy’s sensitive skin.

Jughead took Buffy’s hand and led her to the bedroom, Betty following close behind. Buffy caught them making eye contact over her head, which gave her pause. “Hey,” she eked out. “We don’t have to do this if you’re not sure.”

Betty and Jughead looked at each other and smiled before turning back to Buffy. “We’re sure,” Betty said.

“Very sure,” added Jughead.

Buffy was done being cautious. She reached back and unclipped her bra, letting it fall to her feet. She unbuttoned her pants, making eye contact with Betty and Jughead in turn, and slowly slid them down before kicking them away. She was only in her underwear now and she wished she’d worn something sexier than a pair of crisp, blue cotton panties.

Jughead looked at Buffy in awe. Her small, pert breasts were flanked with lean and well-defined muscles. Besides Reggie and Archie in the gym locker room (how were those teens so fit?), he’d never seen a six-pack up close before. He smiled as he gently ran his hands along the top of Buffy’s shoulders and down her arms, and he groaned when she pulled him in for a kiss. He reached around and cupped her firm butt and heard her sigh with desire. 

“Is there anything you like or don’t like?” he asked, moving down to gently suck Buffy’s ear lobe between his lips.

Buffy had never been great about vocalizing her needs in the bedroom, which had led to a lot of mediocre sex. Still, if she was going to have a threesome, she was going to do it right. “I like a little bit of roughness and a lot of eye contact.” She felt Jughead’s cock stiffen as she spoke and watched him back away looking slightly embarrassed. 

Betty, who’d seated herself on the bed to watch, smiled at Jughead. She knew he also liked a little bit of roughness and a lot of eye contact and she could only imagine how excited Buffy’s answer made him. “Will you let us know if anything is too rough?” Betty asked Buffy, leaning forward to play with the waist-band of Buffy’s underwear.

“Sure,” Buffy laughed. Too rough? Clearly they’d never fucked a slayer before. Then she gasped with surprise as Betty pulled Buffy forward by the waist of her panties. She straddled Betty’s leg and sat, feeling the hardness of Betty’s thigh pressing against her already wet mound. Buffy kissed Betty, hard, rocking her pussy into her leg and groaning in pleasure. She pushed Betty to the bed and scrambled on top of her, ripping her shirt open and pulling Betty’s breast out from behind her bra and into her mouth. She sucked and nibbled at the hardened pebble and listened as Betty moaned in pleasure. 

“Fuck, you’re hot,” Betty groaned, ignoring that her shirt buttons were strewn around the room, as Buffy pulled off Betty’s bra, followed by her pants and underwear. Betty readjusted, lying her head on the pillow as Buffy crawled up and began to kiss her way down her neck, pausing for a time at her full breasts, and then trailing down her soft belly. She kissed around Betty’s hip and licked at her inner thigh, just inches away from Betty’s pussy.

Buffy looked up at Betty and raised her eyebrows, waiting for her consent to continue. “Fuck yes,” Betty laughed.

Buffy began to tease Betty’s folds with her fingers, spreading her warm wetness. She felt Jughead climb into bed and she looked at his bright, eager eyes as she slowly thrust a finger into Betty’s silky hole. “Oh fuck,” Betty cried. 

“Oh fuck,” Jughead repeated.

Buffy smiled at Jughead, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. She briefly studied his slender but firm body — all pale skin and muscles — and then she turned away to dive in between Betty’s legs. She suckled and kissed Betty’s folds, listening for the hitched breath that told her she was on the right track. She gave Betty’s hardening clit light licks, too light based on Betty’s frustrated huffs. As she worked a second finger into Betty’s pussy, she felt Jughead shift closer to them on the bed. His fingers tickled down her back and paused to play with with the elastic hip of her panties. She moaned into Betty’s pussy, the vibrations eliciting a moan from Betty in response. 

Jughead knew that Buffy liked a little roughness, but he didn’t want to do anything too drastic while she was busy slurping up his girlfriend. So he contented himself to tickle and tease Buffy’s tits and the crotch of her underwear. Her could feel her wetness soaking through the cotton, but still he hesitated, teasing a finger under her panties instead of fully removing them. He let the tip of his finger trail down her sticky goodness and quickly flicked it across her clit, smiling as Buffy moaned between Betty’s legs.

“Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” Betty panted as Buffy’s fingers continued to push and curl into her, stretching her out and finding that sweet spot inside her over and over again. Her mouth was earnestly sucking on her clit and every time Buffy moaned, Betty got closer and closer to the edge. But this was the first time a woman had fucked her and, though it felt amazing, she felt a little self-conscious. She looked over to see Jughead studiously biting his lip, eyes darting from Buffy’s rear to Betty’s face. She dragged her hands up to her breasts and cried out as Buffy’s thrusts began to get more powerful. Her tension rose and the walls of her pussy clamped against Buffy’s fingers. Just one more lick, just one more suck, and (Oh Yes!) she was cumming.

Buffy felt Betty’s pussy clench and unclench around her fingers as Betty let out a keening cry. She slowed down and then stopped her thrusts and kisses, finally pulling her fingers out and turning to Jughead. “If you don’t fuck me right now, I’m going to scream.”

Jughead didn’t need to be told twice. He climbed behind Buffy and pulled her underwear down to her knees. He rolled a condom over his cock and then began to tease it up and down Buffy’s pussy lips. He paused at her entrance, “How hard do you want it?” he asked. 

“Hard,” Buffy answered and so he grabbed her hips and thrust his full length into her waiting pussy. He paused, feeling the sensation of the slayer’s tight walls flutter around him, then pulled himself almost all the way out and thrusted in again. In and out, he pushed, feeling his hips slap against her ass as she pushed back into him with force. He looked over at Betty, who was biting her lower lip as she watched the show happening right above her, a sheen of sweat dampening her forehead and chest. 

Betty watched Buffy’s tits bounce as Jughead fucked her from behind. She was still coming down from her orgasm, but the scene before her was getting her hot again. She licked her fingers and then grasped at one of Buffy’s nipples, squeezing as it bounced in and out of her hand. Her other hand trailed between her own legs and she put three fingers into her waiting hole, trying to match Jughead and Buffy’s speed, trying to imagine what Buffy was feeling. 

Buffy saw what Betty was doing and smiled, quickly tapping Betty’s hand away and replacing it with her own. Her slayer strength made it easy to hold herself up on two knees and one hand and let her match Jughead’s thrusts, fucking Betty’s pussy and fucking back into Jughead’s hips. As she and Betty held eye contact and Jughead fucked her, hard, from behind, she wasn’t sure she’d ever been this turned on before. The erotic scene pulled moans from between her lips as she tried to let her normally super-controlled self go. She could hear Jughead and Betty moaning as she fucked them, smell the damp-earth musk coming from between Betty’s legs, and feel her pussy stretching to take Jughead’s cock. It was heaven.

Jughead wasn’t going to last much longer. The warm feeling of Buffy’s tight pussy and the sight of her fingering his girlfriend was going to bring him over the edge. “I’m close,” he said, reaching around to stroke Buffy’s clit as he fucked into her. “Cum with me,” he demanded.

Buffy screamed in pleasure at the stimulation, and repositioned her thrusting hand so her thumb would hit Betty’s clit in turn. 

“Oh Fuck!” 

“Oh God!” 

“Oh Yes” 

Their voices mingled until you couldn’t tell who was yelling what. Moaning, groaning, hips slapping, and the smell of sex filled the air. Buffy’s pussy clenched around Jughead as she came. He tried to fuck her through it, but her pussy held him tight and he could only hover inside her, falling forward to cling to her breasts, shocked as her slayer walls milked his orgasm right out of him. Buffy again increased the pressure and speed of her thrusts and Betty arched her back into her second orgasm of the night, then fell back onto the bed in exhaustion. Jughead and Buffy soon joined her in a sweaty, sexy pile.

“Wow,” Buffy said, licking and kissing a bead of sweat off Jughead’s shoulder. “That was fucking amazing.”

The two fucked-out twenty-one-year-olds could only moan in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the very long absence. I have 4 excuses: death in the family, work is busy, my Borrasca story stole my attention, and it turns out it's hard to write a threesome. I must have rewritten it 5 times. Hope you liked it!


	8. In Unity, There’s Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The flutteriness of new lust not withstanding, the mission must go on.

The sunlight peeked through the blinds to cast alternating stripes of light and shadow across the bed. Buffy woke with her legs entwined with Betty’s and with Jughead cuddling her from behind. She controlled her breathing, afraid that any movement would wake them. She needed time to think; time to process the previous night before she talked to the sleeping young couple.

‘I can’t believe Willow was right,’ she thought. ‘She’s going to freak when she finds out!’

She realized she forgot to text Willow that she was staying out last night. She told her she was going to be home late, but Willow had to be worried when she didn’t come home at all. Buffy made a mental note to text her as soon as she could get to her phone. Which was in her pants, which were…somewhere in this room.

Buffy looked at Betty’s sleeping face. She’d known plenty of gorgeous women, she’d even hooked up with a few, but never anyone as exquisitely beautiful as Betty. She radiated light, like she was a goddess stuck on earth with all us mortals — but not in a psycho Glory kind of way. Betty was radiant: Her flawless skin, her high cheekbones, and her sultry curves, hugged by the sheet, were no match for Buffy’s caution. Before she could stop herself, she leaned forward and kissed the very tip of Betty’s nose, watching her eyes flutter open and adjust to the morning light.

‘Moment of truth,’ Buffy thought. ‘If she freaks out that I’m here, we’ll know that we made a mistake and we’ll never talk about this again.’ But instead, Betty smiled and pulled closer to Buffy, arching her face up toward the slayer. 

“Good morning,” she whispered.

“Good morning,” Buffy responded. Betty shifted to kiss Buffy, sweetly, her thigh pressing closer into her center. Buffy took a deep breath when Betty pulled away and tried to calm her racing heart.

“Good morning,” Jughead’s voice came from behind her and and she felt small kisses peppering her neck and shoulder. She turned to face him and found him smiling and open and she felt her stomach flip flop. Who were these gorgeous humans? How could they possibly exist in this tiny New England town? Jughead leaned down and kissed Buffy’s waiting mouth. She could text Willow later.

When Buffy finally got back to the Scooby Shack it was after lunch and Willow was pissed. “I’m happy for you, Buffy,” she said. “I really am. But we have a lot of work to do and you left me hanging all day.”

“I know, Will,” Buffy responded. “I’m so sorry. I just got…caught up.”

“Well,” Willow softened, “I’ll forgive you if you tell me details.”

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” smiled Buffy.

“I don’t see any ‘ladies’ here,” Willow laughed.

Buffy’s smile widened. “It was magical,” she swelled. “They really are amazing. I’ve never felt so taken care of in my life…not even by that sweet Golden-Retriever-of-a-man Riley.” Willow laughed. “I mean…it can’t go anywhere.” Buffy looked a little sad. “They have this amazing connection. And they’re kids, really, barely 21…I feel a little guilty about that.”

Willow scoffed. “By the time you were their age, you’d already defeated, what, 8 apocalypses (apocalypsi? what’s the plural of apocalypse, again?), lost your mother, raised your sister, killed the love of your life, and buried a whole school…and then a whole town!…in rubble. Not to mention you’d already died…twice.”

“So I was an early bloomer,” Buffy said.

“Well, I’ve been reading Jughead’s book, and they’ve seen some shit, Buffy. When they tell you they’ve been through a lot, they’re not lying.” Willow shook her head. “I mean, talk about growing up early—Jughead was homeless for a while, Betty saved her mom from a cult, and all of their friends owned their own businesses before they were even old enough to vote.” She paused. “This town is weird.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“Buffy, you’ve lived 1,000 lives, but they’ve probably lived 500 each, so you’re even.” Willow smiled. “It’s good to see you happy, Buffy. You deserve to be happy.” 

Buffy turned away and looked at the map of Riverdale Willow had taped to the wall, hiding the tears in her eyes. She never was very good at showing her emotions, always feeling the pressure of being the strongest person in the room. She cleared her throat. “What’s all this?” she asked, gesturing to the multi-colored pins dotting the map. 

“This is a map of all the possibly supernatural occurrences or human evildoings in Jughead’s book. We have a few main points of interest: Fox Forest, this condemned convent called the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, Sweetwater River, and, of course, Riverdale High.”

Buffy laughed. “It’s always the high school!”

“No matter how long ago you graduate, it just keeps pulling you back,” Willow chuckled.

“Great work, Willow,” Buffy said. “Seriously, I couldn’t do this without you.”

“Well, clearly I could do it without you,” Willow winked.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t ditch you again!”

“You will,” Willow said. “When Betty and Jughead ask, you’ll be right by their side.” Buffy started to argue. “It’s okay, I get it. New love…or lust…or whatnot…it’s exciting. It’s intoxicating.” Willow sighed. “But you have your slayer duties, Buffy. I need you to pull your weight.” Willow paused. “Look at me turning into Giles!” She pushed a pair of invisible glasses up her nose.

“I’m on it, Willow. Consider my weight pulled.” Buffy pretended to pull a heavy rope hand-over-hand. “Whew,” she wiped her brow. “That’s some heavy weight.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Willow. “Just promise we’ll patrol tonight. Let’s start with the high school, see if that vampire cult is hanging around.”

“The restaurant closes at 10 so I can meet you there at 10:30. I’ll even wear my sensible boots.”

Work that night was boring. Betty wasn’t on shift and Buffy found that she missed her sharp wit and doe eyes. She was getting ready to lock up when she heard voices out front. “We’re closed,” she called out, surprised when Jughead and Betty popped up in the window of the door.

“Hey,” Jughead said as she opened the door. “We wanted to see if you wanted to come by for a drink.”

“I’d love to, guys,” Buffy’s face flushed as she thought back to last night. And this morning. “Really. But I have to work.”

“But the restaurant is closed,” Betty said, peering around the darkened dining room. 

“This isn’t my only job,” said Buffy. “It’s not even my most important job.”

Jughead paused. He still wasn’t sure where he fell on this vampire-hunting thing, but he’d researched Sunnydale and everything Buffy had told them seemed to be true. There really had been a small Southern California town with a surprisingly high murder rate that imploded into a crater one day. But it could all be explained away by a drug problem (he’d found a lot of news archives about gangs on PCP) or a gas leak…a really, really big gas leak. 

He sighed. Or he could just believe her.

“Can we help?” he asked. He looked over at Betty who nodded enthusiastically.

Buffy’s eyebrows shot up. “No! It’s way too dangerous.”

“We don’t mind a little danger,” Betty said. “We like adventure.”

“Adventure is taking a car trip across country without booking hotels in advance. This exceeds adventure.” Buffy sighed at their stubborn faces. “If we find a nest of vampires, I might not be able to protect you.”

“We don’t need to be protected,” Jughead began.

“Yes, you do,” Buffy interrupted. “Look at each other.” They looked at her. “I mean it, look at each other.” They finally complied. “Jughead, imagine Betty’s throat being ripped open.” He glared at Buffy, but she just raised her eyebrows until he looked back at Betty. “Betty, imagine watching Jughead get his neck snapped right in front of you.” It was Betty’s turn to glare. Buffy waited. “Imagine watching the person you love the most in the world die right in front of you. And imagine thinking back to this conversation, this insistence that you could handle it. Imagine the guilt that will follow you for the rest of your life.”

Betty sniffled and Jughead blinked back tears. 

“I know it’s not fun to be on the sidelines,” Buffy continued. “But Willow and I can handle ourselves. We’ve done this before. She’s a powerful witch and I have superpowers. We’ll be fine, but you might not be.

“I’ll text you guys tomorrow. We’ll plan a date.” She smiled. “But for now, I have to go meet Willow at Riverdale High.”

After Buffy ushered them out, Jughead and Betty sat for a few minutes in their car. Betty was trembling and Jughead was white-knuckling the steering wheel. 

“Was that…manipulative?” he asked.

“Or protective…” Betty responded. “We don’t know her well enough yet to tell.”

“The way she talked about you…about you dying…I couldn’t…” Jughead put his head in his hands.

“I know,” Betty said, tears springing from her eyes. They brought their foreheads together over the center console, allowing themselves to take comfort in each other. Betty thought about all those times they almost lost each other: when Jughead surrendered himself to the Ghoulies, when Betty went after the Black Hood and the Gargoyle King at the Junior Prom, when Betty infiltrated to the Farm to find her mom, when Jughead followed Brett into the woods behind Stonewall Prep. When they went off alone, Betty realized, was when they’d been in the most danger. 

“Juggie,” she said. “We should follow her. We should make sure she’s okay.”

Jughead looked up, wiping a tear from his cheek. “What?”

“When we’ve almost lost each other, whenever one of us almost dies, it’s because we went off alone.”

Jughead nodded. “In unity, there’s strength,” he said.

“In unity, there is strength,” Betty repeated.

So they wiped their tears and drove to Riverdale High.


	9. No Locals in the Scooby Gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead and Betty go to help Buffy, but does she need them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: there is some implication of future and mention of past sexual assault.

Buffy arrived at Riverdale High fifteen minutes later and found Willow sitting in the parking lot in her unassuming green sedan. Buffy closed the passenger-side door as she sat and her best friend turned to her, black eyes returning to normal.

“Hey, Buffy. I’ve just been doing some reconnaissance.”

“Special-Willow-Binocu-Vision?” 

“It’s just so much easier than trying to focus actual binoculars. Plus, I can turn night vision on and off at will,” Willow smiled.

“Makes sense,” Buffy said. “Did you bring any non-witchy binoculars for me?”

“Yup,” Willow responded. “In the glove compartment.”

Buffy grabbed the set and brought them to her eyes. “See anything yet?”

“Not a blood-sucker in sight,” Willow answered.

“Well, that can mean one of three things: One, the Hellmouth is in there, but it’s not in play yet. Two, the cult is in there, but they’re not awake yet. And three, Riverdale High has nothing supernatural going on at all and we’re wasting our time here.”

“Yup,” Willow nodded, scanning the dark windows of the school. “Those are the three options…. Ooh, but what’s that?” Willow pointed toward the building as Buffy adjusted her binoculars. A preppy, brown-haired teenage girl in a pleated skirt and pink cardigan was walking side-by-side with a tall, muscular boy in a letter-man’s jacket. He kept pawing at her and she kept pushing his hands away. They rounded the building and were soon out of sight.

“Could be a garden-variety date-rape,” Buffy suggested. “I’ll go check it out.”

“Don’t break anything,” Willow said.

“I’ll be fine,” Buffy shrugged her off.

“I mean on him — y’know, if he’s just a regular human and all.”

Buffy shrugged as she climbed out of the car. “No promises,” she muttered, closing the door behind her.

The building was dark and quiet as Buffy walked past. The ground sloped down toward the athletic fields, illuminated only by the moon, which was currently hidden behind clouds. For a second, Buffy wished she too could turn on night-vision at will. She could just make out two hulking sets of bleachers outlining the football field and headed in that direction.

As she drew closer, she could hear the girl’s voice. “Brad, I mean it. I’m not in the mood.”

The boy, presumably Brad, responded, “Y’know, I’m getting a little sick of your teasing.”

“I said stop, Brad!” Buffy heard the girl retort as the pair came into view, the clouds revealing a strong moonlight. Brad was pawing at the girl’s cardigan, trying to pull her closer to him as she pushed away yet again, heading into the shadows of the bleachers. 

‘Great,’ Buffy rolled her eyes. ‘Just another entitled man-boy trying to take what he wants. Would it really matter if I broke his hand just a little bit?’ she mused as she headed down the hill.

Buffy was pulled out of her reverie when she hear a painful scream. She could just see their forms in the shadows as the girl — a vampire! — ripped Brad’s arm off and started beating him with it. “No means no, Brad!” she mocked, laughing as Brad clung to the back of the bleachers with his one good arm and wept.

“Hey,” Buffy yelled, reaching the pair just as the vamp closed in and bit into Brad’s throat, ignoring his pleas for mercy. “Get off of him!” The vampire dropped Brad to the ground and turned to face Buffy, looking annoyed at the interruption. Brad was barely conscious at this point, but he clung to the space where his arm used to be. “Hold on, Brad,” Buffy said. “Just hold on.”

Buffy ducked under a punch and kicked out, foot landing squarely into the vampire’s stomach, elliciting an _oof_ as the air was forced from her lungs. But the brunette was undeterred — she smiled, blocking Buffy’s jab-cross, dislocating her arm as she threw her to the dry, dusty grass behind the bleachers. Buffy was sure that if she weren’t the slayer her arm would no longer be attached to her body and she cradled the useless limb as she sat up. The vampire charged, as Buffy, still on the ground swept her foot into a semi-circle, sending the vampire toppling. The vampire landed in a roll and popped back up just as Buffy popped her own shoulder back into place with a grimace of pain. 

She stood, warily, facing off with her attacker. A smile returned the brunette’s face, the moon casting shadows on her lumpies. “It’s nice to finally have some competition,” she said, stretching her limbs like a cat, like she had nowhere else to be and nothing better to do.

“So happy I could make your day,” Buffy retorted, piecing together her next strategy. This vampire was oddly powerful and it made her feel like a young slayer again, fighting Luke in the cemetery, terrified she was going to lose. Not that she would lose tonight — she had too much experience to let a single vampire take her out — but she hated being on the defensive. She shook out her shoulders and got into a low fighting stance. Not even Brad’s whimpering was going to distract her from her mission.

The vampire charged, full force, and Buffy used that force against her, throwing her into the beams that held up the bleachers, hearing the sickening crack of her spine hitting metal. But the vampire quickly recovered, kicking herself to her feet and wiping the dust from her cardigan. Buffy noticed what looked like Pixie Sticks poking out of the pocket of her sweater. “It’s going to take more than that to hurt me,” the vamp snarled, smirking as she charged again. 

Back at the parking lot, Willow was still watching the high school when she heard another car park nearby. “Of course,” she rolled her eyes as she saw Betty and Jughead emerge. She got out of the car and walked over to them. “What are you guys doing here?” she asked, trying to hide her annoyance. 

“Oh, hey Willow,” Betty answered nonchalantly. “We came to make sure Buffy was okay.”

“Buffy,” Willow responded with a little more edge in her voice. “Is a vampire slayer in her late-30s. Do you know how many vampire slayers live to their late-30s? Before Buffy: none.” Betty and Jughead looked horrified. Willow softened. “I know that sounds bad — I’m just trying to say that Buffy knows how to take care of herse—”

A woman’s scream pierced the night. The three of them looked at each other quickly before running toward it. As they ran, Willow thought that it was either really impressive or really stupid that Jughead and Betty ran toward danger without even a moment’s hesitation. ‘Maybe they have Scooby-gang potential after all,’ she thought.

They got in view of the fight, which Buffy was winning — the shriek had come from a vamp Buffy had impaled over a fence post. The post hadn’t hit her heart, so Buffy finished her off with the quick jab of a stake. 

As the vampire turned to dust, Willow ran over to Brad who lay crumpled in a pool of blood. Buffy crouched down beside her. “Can you do a healing spell so we can get him to the hospital?”

“Stand back,” Willow said and Betty’s mouth dropped open as Willow’s eyes — not just her irises, but the entirety of her eyes — turned black. She glanced at Jughead who stood dumbfounded as the man’s arm reattached itself. “We have to get him to the hospital, but he’ll probably live with a few bags of blood.” 

Buffy unceremoniously threw him over her shoulder and began walking back toward the car. “I hate saving a potential Warren,” she said, remembering the human-monster who shot Buffy and killed Tara; who enslaved, raped, and murdered his ex-girlfriend, then gaslighted Buffy into believing _she_ was responsible for her death. “But we don’t get to pick which humans live or die.”

“So true,” Willow responded, looking guiltily at the ground, remembering the metallic smell of Warren’s blood after she’d flayed him alive and noting the anger that still blazed in her heart whenever she thought of him. She took a few cleansing breaths to keep the black veins at bay.

Buffy seemed to notice Betty and Jughead for the first time. “What are you guys doing here?” she asked pointedly.

“We were … coming to … help you?” Jughead responded, suddenly unsure of himself.

“Well, if you want to help, get this guy to the hospital.” Buffy trudged up the hill toward the parking lot. As she walked, she thought-talked to Willow, ‘That vamp was stronger than she should have been. I’m not sure if she was part of the cult or not, but something weird is definitely going on. She had … Pixie Sticks? … in her pocket.’ She floated the image of the Pixie Sticks in the girl’s cardigan into the witch’s mind.

‘A vamp with a sweet tooth? Sounds like some research is in order,’ Willow beamed into Buffy’s mind. ‘You good here?’ Buffy nodded. ‘Great; I’ll meet you back at the Scooby Shack.’ Her eyes went black again and she looked up, dissolving into a shadow that shot past the school. A second later, they heard the sound of a car starting and pulling away.

“Holy shit,” Betty and Jughead said in unison.

“You guys should star in a vaudeville act,” Buffy quipped. “Now, let’s get this asshole to your car.”

It was almost midnight when Jughead and Betty left the hospital. They’d told the intake nurse that they came upon Brad being attacked by a stray dog; no, they didn’t know him; no, they didn’t want to leave their names.

Driving home, Betty was in her own head. When it came to Betty and Jughead, it was clear that they were safer together. But maybe that wasn’t true for Buffy? Though if they’d gotten there earlier, maybe they could’ve helped. Maybe that douchebag Brad wouldn’t have gotten so hurt. She finally broke the silence. “I know Buffy can take care of herself, but I still want her to know we’re there for her.”

Jughead nodded, then bit his lip. “Are we taking this whole thing a little too fast? I mean, I like her, but…”

“But do we even want a relationship with her?” Betty pushed a few wandering strands of blonde hair behind her ear. 

“We liked having sex with her and we want to do that again,” Jughead cleared his throat feeling suddenly aroused, “but do we want her to move in, become our third? How does that even work?”

“I have no idea!” Betty guffawed. 

“We should talk to Cheryl and Toni to see how they went about opening up their relationship,” Jughead suggested. 

“Oh my god, how did we not think of that before?!?” Betty’s eyes twinkled.

“You do love your research,” Jughead joked. “I expected better from you.”

“Okay, so we back off for now? Wait to figure out how we feel and what we want before we move forward?” Betty asked, absentmindedly tapping her fingers against the emergency break. “Text Toni and see if she and Cheryl want to come over for brunch tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I think backing off — temporarily — sounds like the best idea.” Jughead replied, pulling out his phone. Betty smiled weakly; she was already missing Buffy a little bit. Jughead reached over and squeezed her hand. “It doesn’t mean it’s over, it just means we’re not rushing into anything.”

“Yeah,” Betty sighed. “We’ll do the smart thing. We won’t rush in.”

After Buffy thoroughly searched the school, she met Willow back at the Scooby Shack. “Find anything?” Willow asked, closing her laptop.

“Besides a gross ant infestation? Nada,” Buffy responded.

“Okay, we’ll cross the school off the list,” Willow said, moving to the white board they were using to keep track of data. “Maybe tomorrow we can take a look at the creepy convent. It’ll be easier than the sprawling forest or river.”

“Sounds like a plan. Did you find out anything about our super-strong teen-vamp?” Buffy asked. 

“Not yet, but I’m working on it,” Willow re-opened her laptop. ‘I vaguely remember something in Jughead’s book about some drug packaged like candy, but I can’t remember the name — jiggle juggle? jagged jungle? — and I haven’t found the right chapter yet.”

“Okay, you’re talking nonsense and I’m heading to bed,” Buffy said.

“I am not!” Willow feigned offense. “Not going to Betty and Jughead’s for a night cap?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “I think I have to put the kibosh on that whole deal.”

“Why?” asked Willow. Buffy pointedly raised an eyebrow. “So they showed up at what could have been a blood bath — they’re learning!”

“It’s too dangerous, Will.”

“Normally I’d agree with you, but there was a moment where I thought they’d make a good addition to the Scooby Gang,” Willow argued. “They ran right to your aid when that vamp screamed. Normal folks would run away or freeze, but they headed right to you.”

“Then they’ll head right to their deaths.” Buffy paused. “We have a rule: no locals in the Scooby Gang. It’s for their own good.” She headed towards her room and then looked back. “I’ll tell Betty after our shift tomorrow.”

As Buffy walked out Willow smiled sadly. She wanted her friend to be happy and she thought Betty and Jughead could make that happen. After a moment’s hesitation, she whipped out her phone and texted Jughead. “Coffee tomorrow afternoon? I have some follow-up questions about your book.”

A moment later came the reply, “Pop’s at 3?”

“See you then!” Willow responded. Buffy would forgive her meddling.


	10. One Million Variations and Counting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Choni! Cheryl and Toni join Betty and Jughead for brunch and explain that there's not just one way to open up your relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this is so late! I got very, very distracted by life.

By 10:55 the next morning, Jughead was plating the first of his signature chocolate-chip pancakes as Betty mixed a pitcher of mimosas. The radio was on in the background and Archie’s newest single twanged its way through the speakers.

“I’m so glad Archie gave up boxing for music,” Betty said as she placed the pitcher in the center of the table. “It’s so much less dangerous.”

“Mmmm,” Jughead agreed, concentrating on the bubbles forming in his second pancake, not even looking up at the knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Betty laughed, slapping his butt as she bounced toward the door.

“Hey!” he exclaimed before returning his attention to the perfect flip.

“Cousin!” Cheryl leaned in to kiss Betty’s cheek as Betty offered to take their coats. 

“Hey Betty,” Toni smiled, rubbing away the very red lipstick Cheryl left on Betty’s cheek.

Betty led them over to the table and poured mimosas, Jughead calling out that the pancakes would be ready in a few.

After the last drop of Cheryl’s maple syrup was cleaned off the last plate and the mimosas were a fond memory, Betty and Jughead nervously smiled at each other. She nodded at him and he turned to Toni. “T,” he began, “I have what’s probably a really weird question for you.”

Toni looked up from her phone and pushed a purple streak of hair out of her face, “What’s up, Jug?”

“Betty and I,” he looked at Betty who smiled in encouragement, “were wondering how you guys, how you and Cheryl, how you two…”

“Opened up your relationship,” Betty finished for him to his great relief. 

“Oh ho!” Toni laughed, “You two? Really?”

A huge smile spread across Cheryl’s face. “Now, now, TT,” she chided. “We don’t want to discourage my lovely cousin and her mediocre beau from confiding in us.” Her eyes flashed as she turned to Betty. “Well, cousin? Is there a certain someone or are you simply bored of the hobo?”

Jughead felt his face flush. It’d been years since high school and Cheryl could still get under his skin. He suspected that she never forgave him for kicking her and Toni out of the serpents. And even though he apologized profusely and invited them back in, admitting his unequal treatment of them and Fangs was sexist and uncalled for, and even though he named Toni as Serpent Queen when he went off to Iowa, Cheryl still held a grudge.

Toni, however, had an open and forgiving nature and she lightly kicked Cheryl under the table.

Betty rolled her eyes at the slight and answered Cheryl’s question. “There’s a certain someone that Jug and I are _both_ into.” She paused, adding, “And he’s not a hobo.” Jughead moved to clear the plates to the sink, but Betty stopped him with a reassuring hand on his leg. “We just want to know, like, when you guys opened up your relationship to Peaches, did you have rules? How did it work?”

Toni smiled as she remembered all those late nights curled up between Cheryl and Peaches, before Peaches left for Hollywood to try her luck at acting. Sometimes it was good to be queen. She refocused on the conversation. “Of course there were rules,” she said. “You have to have rules or things will get messy.”

Cheryl nodded. “Though things can get messy anyway. Jealousy happens. You just have to make sure you can talk to each other about it.”

“Cher’s right,” Toni interjected. “Open communication is probably the most important thing. We learned that lesson when Cheryl tried to set Peaches’s car on fire after we went to the movies without her.”

Jughead looked aghast. “Now, now, Judge-head, I’ve worked on my anger issues and am much less … impulsive,” Cheryl cooed.

“We have open communication,” Betty said, unfazed by Cheryl’s attempted arson. Jughead nodded in agreement. “I guess we want to know, like, what level of interaction should we have with the other person? What is too much? Or too little?”

Toni smiled kindly. “There’s no one way to do it. There’s no right or wrong answer. I know people who are in open relationships where each partner can fuck whomever they want, but never the same person twice or like no one they’re friends with or whatever their rules are. I have another friend who’s in a polyamorous relationship with one primary partner, and then they each have secondary partners. Everyone knows about everyone else, but they don’t have group sex or anything.

“Cheryl and I were in a primary relationship and then we were both in a secondary relationship with Peaches. So we could all be together or hang out separately (not counting the movie-car-fire-fiasco). Peaches could also go off and be with anyone else, but Cheryl and I couldn’t. Our only second was Peaches and if we’d hooked up with anyone else that would have been cheating.”

“And then there’s Ethel,” Cheryl reminded Toni as Jughead and Betty’s eyebrows both shot up. “She’s in a poly relationship with two men and another woman and they’re all equals in the partnership. She said it can get complicated, but there’s always someone to hang out with and you don’t have to fake being interested in something your partner is into, like standup comedy or musical theater, because at least one of the other partners is probably into the same thing!”

“Right,” Toni nodded. “But it definitely requires the most communication because everyone’s feelings and perceptions are equally important. Whereas for us with Peaches, Cheryl and I considered each other’s feelings to be the most important and Peaches understood that.”

“There are one million variations and counting, Cousin, so the real question is: What are you looking for?” Cheryl asked sweetly.

Betty and Jughead looked at each other. “I don’t know if we know that yet,” Betty admitted.

“Well, talk it over and then if you want more advice, you know where to find us,” Cheryl stood and held her hand out to Toni. “Come along, Toni. Grandma Rose is waiting for us to take her to visit Jay-Jay’s grave.”

Toni flashed a happy smile as she took Cheryl’s hand before turning back to Jughead and Betty. “Seriously, though, call us if you have more questions.”

Jughead washed and Betty dried, putting the plates and glasses into their rightful places. “Well, I don’t know if that answered any questions or just opened up new ones,” Jughead shook his head.

“I know what you mean,” Betty responded, handing Jughead the towel to dry his hands. 

He pulled her closer to him, laying his forehead on hers. “So what do you think? What are your instincts telling you?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Betty admitted. “I like Buffy, but I don’t know that I want her to be a full partner with us.”

“Yeah,” Jughead agreed. “What we have is great — it’s solid."

“So the Cheryl-Toni-Peaches option?” Betty asked.

“I guess so,” Jughead said, “Or the open-relationship with rules option.”

“Wait,” Betty paused. “Is there someone else you want to … be with?”

“No,” Jughead pulled away. “Not at the moment….”

“But maybe in the future?” Betty looked worried and Jughead put a reassuring hand on her cheek.

“I’ve been thinking more about, y’know, me and Sweetpea. About our past.”

“Oh,” Betty said, backing away.

“But it’s not like I want to go and do something about it tomorrow,” Jughead pulled his beanie off his head and started playing with it in his hands.

“I don’t know,” Betty said. “Maybe it’s all too complicated. Maybe it should just be us.”

Jughead looked up from his beanie, holding Betty’s eye contact. “I mean, if that’s how you feel…”

“I’m not sure how I feel,” Betty answered, looking at the floor.

“Well, when you figure it out, let me know.” Jughead smiled, pulling Betty into a tight hug. “That’s what all that open and honest communication is for, right?”

“Right.” Betty wasn’t sure what the impetus for her next statement was: jealousy? fear that Jughead might like Sweetpea more than her? or might like guys more than girls? But before she knew it, she heard herself say, “And if you don’t openly and honestly fuck me against this counter, I’m going to lose my mind.”

Jughead looked at her, shocked. It wasn’t that Betty didn’t initiate sex — she did. She just usually did it in a much more subtle way. But here she was, staring at him with those big, bright eyes, demanding he fuck her. “Are you sure?” he asked, both taken aback and turned on.

Betty pulled her dress over her head and turned to face the counter, planting her hands and showing her thong to Jughead. “Do I look sure?”

Jughead didn’t waste another second. He pulled his shirt off as he closed the distance between him and Betty. He took a moment to rub her back before pulling down her thong and releasing her breasts from her bra. The pony tail Betty wore was doing nothing to hide her big breasts, swinging down toward the linoleum, and Jughead grabbed them in two handfuls. He leaned over, whispering into Betty’s ear, “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t remember your own name.”

He heard Betty’s breath hitch as he used his feet to nudge Betty’s legs wider, until she was so open he could see the her wetness beading in her well-manicured hair. Without ceremony, he pulled his own pants down, releasing his erection from his boxers. He used the tip of his cock to stroke Betty’s folds, soaking himself in her sopping juices. As he placed the tip at her entrance, he grabbed her pony tail and pulled her head back. “Is this what you want?” he asked.

“Fuck, yes,” she answered.

“Confirm your safe word for me,” Jughead said, though they always used the same one. 

“Milkshake,” Betty huffed, turning her head back toward the counter as he released his hold on her hair. Jughead grabbed her hips, digging his fingers into her soft skin, before plunging himself fully into her. His hips slapped against hers over and over as she braced herself against the counter.

“Say my name,” he demanded, thrusting into her.

“Jughead! Jughead!” she screamed.

Jughead barely slowed down as he picked up one of Betty’s legs, wrapping it around his hips before doing the same with the other one. Now she was floating in air, hands supporting her on the counter as he held the rest of her weight between his hands and his dick. He could feel her legs pulling him deeper and deeper inside her as he plunged in and out of her wetness.

“Fuck, Betty,” he growled. “I’m so close.” He felt Betty shudder around him as he reached around, fingering her clit in hard little circles.

“Oh fuck,” Betty yelled. “Oh fuck, Jughead!”

Betty’s walls squeezed around him as she came. He fucked her through it, still holding her up, though her arms were giving out after her orgasm. “Not yet, baby,” he demanded. “Hold on for me.” Betty locked out her elbows and tightened her legs around him. He pushed into her, hard, a few more times before he too was pulled to his release.

“Jesus, fuck, Betty,” Jughead giggled as he slowly released Betty’s legs and pulled out. “How’d I get to be so lucky?”

“I don’t know, Juggie,” Betty turned, pulling him in for a kiss. “But don’t fucking forget it.”

“I would never,” he smiled, kissing her nose and hugging her in tight. He thought about what Buffy said, about the danger of being around her, and he was no longer so sure he wanted to open up his relationship. He didn’t know if it was worth the risk. He supposed they’d figure it out together.


	11. One of a Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willow convinces Jughead to give it a chance with Buffy. Now Betty and Jughead just have to convince Buffy.

Willow sat in a booth by the window, stirring sugar and cream into her decaf coffee. She just couldn’t handle caffeine after noon anymore — it made her jittery and sometimes little electric sparks shot out of her fingers. Safer to go with decaf.

Through the window, she saw Betty in her work uniform giving Jughead a sloppy kiss goodbye before walking in the direction of the restaurant. Jughead fixed his beanie, took a deep, smiling breath, and opened the door to Pop’s. He saw Willow in the corner and waved before heading over.

As he sat, he studied the older woman. Her skin was pale and clear, her red hair flowing in light waves to her shoulders, and her eyes looked bright and perhaps a little mischievous.

“The waitress should be over in a sec to take your order,” she lilted before sipping her coffee.

As Jughead appraised Willow, she appraised him right back. He was tall, but not Riley tall, with thick dark locks poking out from under his crown-shaped beanie. His eyes were intelligent and, though he looked very serious, she thought that his smile would light up a room. She could see what Buffy saw in him: He had Angel’s brooding eyes, Spike’s quick wit, and Riley’s fierce loyalty.

After the waitress took Jughead’s order he turned to Willow. “So you wanted to talk about the book?” he asked.

“I wanted to talk about Buffy,” Willow answered, honestly. When Jughead gave her a reserved nod, she continued. “Buffy thinks she should end it with you guys.” 

She paused to gauge his response, but he kept his poker face as the waitress brought his coffee over. Jughead realized she wasn’t going to continue, so he sipped his coffee and said, “Oh…”

“Oh?” Willow shook her head. “I mean, if you don’t care, I guess there’s nothing to talk about.”

“It’s not that I don’t care,” Jughead said quietly. “I would like to keep seeing Buffy, in theory, but Betty’s my priority. Betty and I are solid. Who knows where this is going with Buffy?”

Willow rolled her eyes. Part of her wanted to throw up her hands and admit Buffy was right — that there was no future with these two. But another part just wanted Buffy to keep smiling. They made her smile and, after years slaying monsters, that was increasingly rare.

“Okay, I hear you,” Willow responded diplomatically. “This whole thing, whatever it is, is new and you don’t have a lot at stake yet. But you and Betty make Buffy happy and that is a huge feat.”

“Why is that?” Jughead asked, honestly curious. “Why is it so hard to make her happy?”

“Buffy has, what you might call, trust issues. And a savior complex. Though to be fair she _has_ saved the world a whole bunch of times.” Willow studied Jughead as he pursed his lips, as if the notion of Buffy the superhero was still hard to believe. Willow pulled her Sunnydale High yearbook out of a bag and opened it to a picture of Buffy at prom, holding a sparkly gold umbrella.

“This was prom night,” she said, pointing. “Buffy won an award, 'Class Protector,’ that the school created just for her. Jonathan (may he rest in peace) gave a speech about how our class had the lowest mortality rate in this history of Sunnydale High … though that was before graduation when the mayor killed a whole bunch of us.” Willow noticed Jughead looking increasingly alarmed. “But that’s not the point. The point is that Buffy was sixteen — basically still a child — when she found out she was the slayer. She has had to save strangers, kill loved ones, and train an army. That’s made it hard for her to let her guard down, which makes it hard for her to form a bond with anyone who’s not already in her sphere.”

Jughead casually stirred his coffee before looking up. “I just don’t really know what to say, here. I think Buffy’s special…”

“Special?” Willow interjected. “She’s one of a kind!”

“So is Betty,” Jughead countered. “I love Betty. I want to keep her safe.” Jughead looked down at the table, blinking back tears. “Buffy gave us a really convincing speech about why we shouldn’t be around her.”

“That whole, ‘Imagine-the-guilt-you’ll-feel-watching-your-lover-get-horribly-murdered-in-front-of-you’ speech?” Willow sassed. “Heard that before.”

“Then you know —“ 

“I know that Buffy won’t let you or Betty get hurt. And being in a relationship with her doesn’t mean you have to patrol with her. It doesn’t mean you have to fight demons and go on all-night stakeouts. It just means you have to be patient and loving and … put up with her reticence.”

“A relationship?”

“Relax, Loverboy,” Willow scoffed. “I’m not talking marriage. I’m talking snuggles in front of the fire with cozy slippers on. And really hot sex.”

Jughead blushed and adjusted his beanie. “So what am I supposed to do?”

Willow shrugged. “I don’t know. Talk to her? Don’t let her push you away without a fight. I’m serious, Jughead, she’s worth it.”

Jughead nodded. “I’ll talk to Betty.” Willow didn’t need to know that this was already a conversation-in-progress.

“Okay,” Willow answered. She leaned over the table conspiratorially, “Now tell me about this ‘Jungle Jiggle.’ What does it do and how does one get it?”

At the end of her shift, Betty folded napkins into swans and tightly packed them into a drawer to be used the next day. Buffy watched from her office and debated on whether to go out and talk to her or call her in. Suddenly the pony tail swooshed and was replaced by Betty’s big eyes and equally big smile. She closed the drawer and approached, looking around to see if they were alone. When she was satisfied that the line cooks were distracted by their saran wrap and the dishwashers were pulling the last load from the dishwasher, she knocked on Buffy’s door.

“Hey, boss! I had a question about my check,” she said loudly, as if anyone was paying attention. She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it. “Hi,” she smiled.

Buffy stifled a sigh. “Hey,” she responded.

Betty crossed over to the desk. She knew she and Jughead had to talk, but he didn’t spend the night staring at the gorgeous woman as she ran around fixing problems and laughing with customers. He wasn’t constantly _tempted_ by her.

“So … what are you up to tonight?” Betty asked hopefully.

“Betty, listen,” Buffy began in her most serious voice. “What happened the other night was great.” Betty smiled, remembering just how _truly_ great it was. “But it can’t happen again.”

“What? Oh! Um … Really?” Betty stammered. She tried to remind herself that it’s not like they were together — it wasn't like she was being dumped — but no one likes to feel unwanted. She looked at her hands and nodded.

“It’s not you,” Buffy said. “It’s me.”

“Sure,” Betty said, her face flushed with embarrassment. 

“I just … I need to be careful … you understand, right?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Betty said, turning around to open the door. “I’ll just get out of your hair.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Buffy called to Betty’s swishing ponytail. “Well, that could’ve gone better,” she muttered to herself.

Betty called Jughead as she walked to her car. “Hey, what’s up, Betty?” he asked.

“Buffy just dumped me … us.”

“Huh,” Jughead said. “Willow was right.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Nothing, just stay there. Let’s go talk to Buffy together.”

Betty thought about her embarrassment from just moments ago. “Yeah, okay,” she agreed with a sigh. “I’ll meet you at the corner by Pop’s.”

Jughead arrived a few moments later, looking dapper in his suspenders again. He took Betty’s hands in his own. 

“I talked to Willow, today,” he said, looking into Betty’s eyes. “She convinced me that we should give this thing with Buffy a shot.”

“That’s a relief,” Betty smiled. “It was torture working with her tonight, not knowing where we stand. There’s just something about her … I’m so … drawn in, y’know?” 

“I know. I feel the same way.” Jughead sighed. “We’ll still need to figure out the rules, but maybe we can figure them out together. Maybe Buffy can be part of the conversation.”

“That sounds like a really good idea,” Betty replied before she shook her head. “But she already told me she’s not interested.”

“Willow said she’d pull away. She said not to let her.”

“Oh,” Betty laughed. “Are you going to go all caveman on her?”

Jughead groaned. “I’m going to _talk_ to her. Scratch that … _we’re_ going to talk to her. See what she says.” He started walking down the street. “You in, Miss Cooper?”

“I’m _so_ in Mr. Jones,” Betty grinned, grabbing his hand and leading the way.

A few minutes later Jughead and Betty reached the restaurant. They heard a scuffle and stopped short at the entrance to the alley. Three men — three vampires! — circled Buffy. 

“C’mon, guys,” she said as she kicked one vamp in the chest. “It’s been a long night.” The vampire grunted as his back struck the wall. 

One charged her from behind and she flipped him over her shoulder, staking him as he bounced off the pavement.

“I had to tell a really pretty girl that I didn’t want to be with her today,” she said, aiming an elbow into the cheek of the vamp to her right. “And it sucks, because she’s amazing. And her boyfriend’s amazing. And we had an incredible 12 hours together!” The vamp stopped cradling his cheek and looked at her quizzically.

The one she kicked had recovered by now and came at her fast, but she dodged and staked him as he tripped over her outstretched leg.

“It’s just that I can’t protect them, you know?” The vampire looked at the ashes of his friends and shrugged, charging at full force. She grabbed his shoulders and rolled on her back, flipping him over her with her leg and then recovering her feet. Turning, she saw that Betty and Jughead at the entrance to the alley, silently watching. “Oh lord,” she rolled her eyes, throwing her stake into the vampire and watching him turn to dust.

“Did you get all that?” she asked, annoyed that she had an audience who wasn’t dead.

Jughead took Betty’s hand and they walked down the alley together as Buffy brushed dirt from her pants. “I talked to Willow today,” he said as they drew near.

“Willow? Why?” Buffy exclaimed.

“She told me not to let you go without a fight,” Jughead responded.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Jughead smiled. “Willow told me in no uncertain terms that you are amazing, incredible, ‘one of a kind.’ She made me realize that I’d — that _we’d_ be idiots if we let you walk away.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Buffy huffed. “Or has Willow already paid my dowry?”

“It was a very handsome dowry,” Jughead smiled, reaching out for Buffy’s hand. “Many, many goats.”

She pulled her hand away. “No,” she said. “Willow doesn’t get to decide who I do or don’t see. And neither do you.”

“Buffy,” Jughead began before Betty cut him off.

“Buffy, please listen,” Betty said, walking over and putting a hand on Buffy’s neck, stroking her jaw. “Jughead and I make a great team. Really. We know how the other thinks, what the other wants. We can predict what the other is going to say without having to try.” She looked at Jughead and he nodded for her to continue. “That’s why I know I’m speaking for both of us when I say that we don’t take what happened between the three of us lightly. If you only want it to be a one-time … well … three-time thing, that’s fine. But we want to see where this goes.”

Jughead stepped forward and put his arm around Betty. “This doesn’t mean a huge commitment … at least not now … but we can just hang out, get to know each other, and have incredible, _mind-blowing_ sex.”

“You’ll have to stay out of my slaying,” Buffy interjected, looking from Jughead to Betty and back again.

“We’ll help as much or as little as you want,” Betty agreed.

Buffy looked from Betty to Jughead and back again. She sighed. “Alright, let me get my things and we can head back to your place?”

“Sounds perfect,” Jughead and Betty said in unison.

“You guys _have_ to stop doing that,” Buffy laughed, shaking her head.

“No promises,” the couple said, laughing.

“Oh boy,” Buffy said as she walked back into the kitchen. “What am I getting myself in to?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...that's a wrap. I'm planning to turn this into a little series wherein each one they investigate a different hot spot. But it turns out I don't really love to write smut (which is why that last sex scene was so ridiculous — Betty was basically floating, guys!), so the rest of the series might be Mature instead of Explicit. But maybe I'll get over the hump. Pun intended.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
